Dim lights started to fill her field of vision, and the ground rumbled along with the distant thumping deeper inside the darkness. The lights floated aimlessly in the black atmosphere like large orbs of pollen, then pulsed with more life the louder the thudding got. Ashi winced, aware that this was another dream, but was again unable to do anything but watch and wait for what came next. More forms started to glow in the darkness and then, like ripping fabric, the blackness tore away and a scene took shape from nothing.

The lights, once vague and pale, now shone brightly in outstanding colors, and darted across the dark sky like crepuscular rays of painted sunlight. Before her stood hundreds of people—at least, she assumed some were people. Others looked like demons, with skin dyed vibrant hues, and others having multiple eyes or limbs. All wore bizarre clothing, and gyrated in chaotic unison to the deafening sound blasting over the field. She couldn't understand if it was ritualistic or in celebration, but the answer didn't seem to affect what came next. As she expected, the music quieted, and the beings seemed to merge into one wave as they signaled something with their hands. It was the letter "S", though the glyph's meaning was lost on Ashi.

Then the woman's voice came. The crowd seemed to fade away as blinding light washed over her, and the only sound she could hear was her speaking one word; "samurai".

The way her voice carried the word gave Ashi shivers. It made it sound so gentle, almost religiously pure, and it reverberated through her body as she repeated it over and over.

"We will never forget you."

The phrase chilled her again, but it was more because she now knew what came after. Without warning the light flew away from her, and she found herself again in the dark. Vague outlines glowed with a green hue around her, but she didn't have the attention for them. What she focused on instead was the figure of a very disheveled man that knelt in the brightest of the sickly green light. It was Jack; she could tell even with his unkept hair and ragged beard.

This time, he lifted his head to look at her, but his gaze was almost unrecognizable. There was a darkness to it she had never seen, not even when he was simmering with anger. The cold shading across his face was not that of contempt, it was of… nothing. There was nothing in his eyes. His stare seemed to pierce her skin and enter into her very core, leading tendrils of dread through her entire body. It was almost longing, begging her for something, but Ashi couldn't understand what. She wanted to call out to him, or run to him and aid him in some way, but she could only stand frozen.

His mouth parted, and an imposing, grim voice rang out, but it was not his.

"The End."

Ashi shot awake, eyes wide, and flung herself forward and towards were Jack should have been. Her hands landed on the mat floor of the room, and her knees buried into the rolls of her comforter, and she realized in anguish that he was not there. She collapsed onto her hip and held her face, cursing herself for letting what she knew was a dream affect her so intensely, again. Despite her angry attempts to shame her body to be calm, her arms trembled with fear, and her stomach still hung horribly low inside her middle.

The dreams were every night now.

She hugged her chest, trying to soothe herself, but the upset and confusion from her torturous night terrors only fueled her distress further. Each time, the emotions she felt rattled her completely through, and she woke breathless, with an inconsolable body and mind. The dread was absolutely all-consuming, and she felt like every second that she wasn't running to Jack's side was a second that his life could slip away. Minutes passed, but her mind still fixated on the image of Jack, worn and beaten.

Ashi screwed her eyes shut, refusing to indulge her brain's fantasies. She turned and crawled over her bed and to the small chest her hosts had provided her with her room. Inside sat the only valuables she had, the most luxurious of all being Jack's silk, drawstring wallet. Her eyes winced sadly, remembering when she found it sitting on top of the neatly folded stack of bedding in the cottage's bedroom. He had obviously left it for her, still filled with all of the money that he had brought for their trip. One last gift, she assumed.

With wistful eyes, she cradled the wallet out of the box like an injured bird, then returned to her futon. She laid on her back with the pouch held delicately to her chest and sighed. She felt stupid, being so sentimental about a wallet, but it was the only possession of his that she had. Her fingers picked at the ties that strung the bag closed while she focused on calming her nerves.

It had been a month since they had parted ways. She couldn't bring herself to stay in the home that he had rented for them, so she had instead continued through the river valley, rather than follow their previously forged path back to Kyoto. Eventually, she found work for a family that was shorthanded 'until more of their children returned home'. They had been separated over a decade ago, with half of their family being taken to Aku's northern slave encampments. The remaining members spoke confidently about their missing relatives returning, but Ashi could see a deep sadness behind their eyes, though she chose not to mention so. She knew the northern camps were violent—they had been near the Temple.

She shook her head clear, refusing to think about that place tonight. Her attention wandered back to Jack, and concern for him brewed in her stomach unhappily. Something inside of her told her that he was in grave danger, but she didn't know from what, or if that was even true. Logic screamed that she was just having nightmares, but she had never in her life had dreams that reoccurred several nights in a row. Was it a premonition? Was his life truly in jeopardy?

Ashi knew that her mother would not rest until Jack had paid for destroying Aku, but she doubted any of the other Daughters would be able to defeat him. If Jack had not held back against her, thinking that she was that 'future' woman, he would have been able to kill her, she was sure of that. Still, her mind wandered to other, darker ideas. The last time she saw him, he was heartbroken about the loss of his lover, and if his father was anything like he described, he would tell him the truth about what Jack was so clearly unaware of. Would that be enough to push a man to end his own life? He mentioned 'losing his way' before…

The image of him, haggard, with his once jovial spirit so clearly shattered, haunted her again. It made her arms want to lurch forward—for her legs to run to him, and for her body to fling itself against his, so she could shield him from whatever was plaguing him. The desire burned her alive from the inside. She needed to save him, but she only chastised herself; save him from what? He was not in danger, it was just a nightmare, nothing more.

Her eyebrows bent up uncertainly, and she squeezed his wallet tighter, feeling it's content shift beneath her fingers. She needed to sleep, work on the property started at sunrise.

Dinner with her host family was warm and lively, but it was hardly a distraction for her mind as night fell. The darkness only signaled the ranch's rapidly approaching 'bed time', and the idea of another night struggling through confusing, horrific dreams did not instill any desire for sleep in her. But her muscles were sore from chores, and as she laid in her bed unmoving, her body urged her to try and rest. Despite her worries, Ashi's eyes began to droop, and in the late hours of that night, her mind finally eased enough to sleep.

As she predicted, the same dream repeated itself. Like before, the mass of creatures swayed and thrust to the thundering sound, and the woman's voice came to her, drawing out the title of the man Ashi's heart ached to hear from. And again, her body dropped into an abysmal, dark scene. This time it felt like she actually hit the floor. Her body slumped to the ground unceremoniously, and the weight of the atmosphere around her made it difficult for her to stand again.

The ill-lighting shone brighter to her side, and she turned her head, expecting to see Jack again. He was there, as nude and haggard as always, but his position was different now. He knelt onto the ground, sitting on his heels, with a blade laid out before him. She could not see who was behind him, but the glint of a sword caught her eye to the left of his head.

She knew his position was that of seppuku, "honorable suicide", and could only watch in horror as he reached for the wakizashi short-sword in front of him. He brought the sword up high above his head, and anxiety swirled in her stomach faster than ever before. She feared that this was what the dreams were warning her of, and began to panic that she was watching it happen, somehow, in her dreams as the deed was carried out somewhere far away from her sleeping body. She begged the gods that somehow she would be able to reach out to him this time.

But her legs seemed to carry her nowhere, and her voice died long before it could reach him. She could feel her blood pulsing in fear and her skin begin to sweat—she couldn't stop him. She couldn't protect him. She didn't question why his safety was so imperative, or why the anxiety in response to his possible death was so overwhelmingly powerful. Instead, she only struggled to reach him more desperately, but her body felt as though she had no energy left. Ashi could see his brow begin to sweat as well, and his body tremble as he tried to summon the courage to bring the blade down. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes, and Ashi felt her own water in response. It was hopeless—she was helpless to stop him.

His arms heaved forward, but before the sword could connect, Ashi gasped awake. Her body seized a moment while her mind tried to figure out what to do. The weight of her own ribs seemed to be suffocating her, and she rolled onto her side hurriedly and propped herself up by her elbow. She gasped in air, rocking forward and shivering from the force of each inhale. A bead of sweat rolled down her jaw, and the movement distracted her from her distress for a moment. She brought a hand up and wiped at her face, then rubbed her eyes in frustration at the stinging sensation of tears still lingering from her nightmare. Her body slumped more, and she tensed in grieving anger with both forearms against her futon.

She cursed her dreams, and she cursed whatever force was doing this to her. What on Earth was happening? Would she ever get a single night's peace again?

Another wave of anxiety rolled through her, and Ashi felt as though she might be sick. She lowered back into her bed and curled up tight, bunching her comforter around her as though it could protect her from the torment. But her mind still screamed the same thing inside her makeshift refuge.

"Find him." It said. "You must find him."

Logic couldn't argue against her paranoia tonight, and she threw the comforter off. Her body seemed to move on its own, stripping and redressing into her new, more colorful clothes that she had acquired since her time with Jack.

She pulled on a striped pair of monpe trousers, and bound the already narrowed pant legs to her calves tight with her old wrappings. Her old white kosode hid beneath her new green, dotted one as she secured it around her waist with an obi. She loaded the rest of her belongings into the satchel she brought with her, but slowed her frantic packing when she caught sight of Jack's wallet that she previously set aside on the floor. She again cupped the coin purse carefully in her hand and stared at it, determined. She vowed to herself to find its owner before something terrible could happen to him. She stowed the wallet safely away beneath the coat Jack had bought for her, and secured the satchel tight, then grabbed her boots and exited the bedroom. She had been given a pair of sandals by her hosts, but decided her tabi boots would be more versatile in her journey back to Kyoto.

Ashi hurried as quickly as she could, her trained steps leaving not a sound as she made her way to the front room. She was startled to see the matriarch of the household sitting at the irori. The woman turned to her and smiled sadly.

"You're finally going to go find him?" She asked quietly. Ashi blinked in surprise.

"What?" She whispered back.

"I can hear you crying for him at night." The woman said, smiling more. Ashi felt embarrassment bubble in her chest, but the woman only shook her head. "Go and find him, this 'samurai'."

Ashi's cheeks warmed from the woman's continued support for her. She bowed her head in thanks.

"Thank you so much for allowing me to stay here. You and your family are truly kind—and I apologize for leaving so abruptly."

"There is no need to thank us, you have done nothing but help us since you arrived." The woman nodded her head toward her, and Ashi felt a more heroic version of her previous anxiety start to fill her. These good people were free because of him. They were home, and even after suffering so much, would still extend a hand to a strange woman clad in black. These were the people he sacrificed so much to save, and if he now needed someone to save him, he deserved that a hundredfold. She felt more compelled than ever to find him, and to protect him, to ensure that no more harm could come to someone as benevolent as he was.

She left to the barn to rouse her horse, the same black mare Jack had given her, and heaved herself onto its saddle. Her heart beat with determination—she had to find him.

"I must find him." She whispered to herself, and set off rapidly into the dark toward the capital.

Her first stop wasn't until that afternoon. She passed through a small village, and decided it would be beneficial for both her and her steed to rest, despite her desperate need to continue onward. She left her horse in a stable at the front of the town, then wandered almost aimlessly through the streets until she finally settled on a humble teahouse. Ashi stepped into the main room and looked at the painted walls with little interest. Some of the décor seemed to be very old, which contrasted oddly with the new tatami floor and furniture—no doubt the work of the government's revitalization efforts. A small, old woman approached Ashi and reeled her in from her senseless thoughts.

She let the woman lead her to a small table, and tried to focus on relaxing awhile. She ordered a small serving of tea, and some sesame cookies to chew on, paying for them as discretely as possible. Paranoia still picked at the back of her brain, and she worried that if someone was to see Jack's expensive wallet that she would garner too much attention. The more unassuming her demeanor, the better; her outfit was already bizarre looking enough. Hopefully people would just shrug her off as poor, and wearing a ragtag bunch of clothing simply because she could not afford anything else.

Lost in thought, she did not notice an even older woman taking a seat next to her until she touched her hand. Ashi jerked her hand back in shock, but her agitated response only served to mortify her upon seeing the person who had touched her. She bowed her head in apology, but the elderly woman only chuckled and gestured for her to stop.

"You are a very distracted young woman." She hummed.

"I apologize." Ashi tried, but her apology was again dismissed.

"Don't add any more worry to your troubled mind." Her smile curved up more, hiding her thin lips beneath the wrinkled skin of her mouth. If only to be hospitable, Ashi poured the woman a cup of tea, and her tablemate thanked her with an airy laugh.

"I know that faraway look." The woman chuffed. "Is there a young man on your mind?"

Ashi blinked in surprise before nodding with anticipation. For a moment, she thought perhaps the woman was a seer, and might have useful information about Jack, but her interest quickly fell as her companion began giddily implying that the concern in her eyes was for 'her lover'. Despite her deflated hope, Ashi decided not to correct her. The world was healing, and full of optimistic things like love once more—why torment an elderly woman with the possibility that the hero prince was in mortal danger?

The woman took a long drink from her cup, then began to tell Ashi a fable, thinking it may calm her. Ashi tried to focus on what the woman told her, but her mind continually wandered back to Jack. It was hard to understand with her attention drifting in and out; a boy throwing a rock at a girl, and then marrying a woman with a scar in the same place that the rock struck the girl from his childhood? It didn't seem to have any value toward her mission, but she got the gist of the woman's story; a red string connects the souls of lovers. She had some vague recollection of the idea from when she was very small, but her mother frowned upon fairytales like that.

"Nothing can break that bond, and if the string binds them, those souls will always meet. Always." The old woman nodded confidently with a warm smile. Ashi tried to smile back, but felt unease starting to worm its way back into her belly. A buzzing feeling in her arms and legs told her that she was wasting precious time, and needed to keep moving.

Ashi thanked the woman for sharing her words with her before leaving the teahouse to continue her journey.

Three more days had passed, and her dreams continued relentlessly. Instead of sleeping on the fourth night, Ashi forced herself to stay awake, but now regretted her decision to do so. Whether she could continue with no rest didn't matter, her horse still needed to sleep, and now she was alone with nothing but the hot afternoon sun as company. She pressed her back firmly against the tree she sat beneath, trying to crush the anxiety out of her skin. Kyoto was close, she just needed to be patient a little longer, and then she would be able to see Jack and know for sure if he was alright or not.

Her boots shifted in the soft dirt, and she breathed out a throaty sigh. The rustling of the forest around her reminded her of her brief time with him. Jack had tried so hard to gain her favor; even if she hated him then, and even if he only did so because he thought she was someone else, his mild nature and jovial mannerisms stayed with her, and she missed them deeply. She wondered if he would welcome her so sweetly as herself, or if that affection was reserved for his lover. She couldn't help but hope he would still be happy to see her, and perhaps someday they would be able to travel together again. Memories of Jack doing mundane things filled her thoughts, and she couldn't help but smile. Her eyes began to close with the image of his sleeping face in mind, and she fell asleep.

The comforting darkness beneath her eyelids quickly warped to into an eerie void. A familiar cold light dimly accented a stone stairway before her. She was aware again that it was the same dream as before, but something was different this time. She could clearly feel the night air chilling her skin, and as she looked around, she could see vague shapes of trees around her. Ashi glanced around as she walked, unused to being able to move so freely in her dreams anymore. As she came to the bottom of the steps, her eyes widened at the sight of gravestones.

A moment of clarity struck her, and she fell breathless into panic once more; the graveyard—that's where Jack was! It felt so obvious to her now, and she couldn't understand why before the thoughts felt so jumbled. Jack was in a cemetery, preparing to commit seppuku, and a powerful being was going to try to stop her from intervening. Her eyebrows creased furiously, and she bolted forward through the maze of headstones and markers, determined to reach him this time.

She was thankful for just a moment that her legs were actually moving her, only for dread to stab at her again when an unusual heaviness slowly began to grow in them. It reminded her of the weights that her mother would fasten to her ankles periodically during training, but instead of remaining constant, this weight was gradually increasing. Ashi trudged forward spitefully, using her anger at these endless hindrances to fuel her resolve. As she reached the most eliminated area of the graveyard, whatever force was affecting her legs pushed down on her entire body, and she fell onto her hands and knees.

Again her body felt completely drained, as though she had just been in a fight for her life. She tried to get her breath back, and strained to lift her head. Jack sat before her, sitting on his heels, with the wakizashi held tight in his outstretched hand. The obscure figure of an incredibly large samurai loomed behind him, standing off to his left, and she could see the glint of their sword above Jack's head. Ashi felt herself tremble in terror, but refused to buckle beneath the force of her own exhaustion. She dug her fingers against the mossy, eroded stone in an attempt to pull herself forward.

"Samurai!" Ashi called out to him. She heard her voice lose its volume, and her eyes widened in horror. It was happening again—she couldn't reach out to him again, just like the dreams before!

"Wait! Don't—!" She tried again, but her words caught in her throat as she watched him bring the short-sword down.

Unlike the dreams prior, however, she did not wake up before the blade pierced him. She watched in stunned horror as the length of the sword buried itself into his stomach with a sickening, wet sound. She tried to gasp in shock, but felt like no air went in. Her eyes shook watching the blood start to bubble and ooze from around the sword's blade, and her lips shuddered into a bitter grimace as she realized that this time she was too late. Jack trembled as he struggled to keep his grip on the handle, and he adjusted his shoulders to finish the action. Ashi couldn't bear to see him carry out something so gruesome against himself, and she tried to heave forward to beg him not to.

Instead of her voice dying as it passed her lips, it bellowed out of her, and her anguished "No!" upset the dark forest around her. The sounds of scattering birds mixed within the gentle rustling of trees took a moment for her to register, but Ashi realized shortly that she was no longer in a cemetery, but under the same tree she rested under when the sky was glowing orange and pink. The atmosphere around her was dark, but the difference in mood from the dingy graveyard in her dream was jarring. Despite the calm of the night, Ashi's terror could not ease, and she mounted her startled horse in a panic. She couldn't wait until morning—she needed to get to the palace now.

The hooves of her horse beat against the dirt path like fevered drums, matching the racing of her own heart. If her dreams were meant to be premonitions, she feared now that she had taken too long to respond to the universe's warnings to her. Ashi gripped the reins and squeezed her legs against her horse's sides, begging it move faster.

She felt ill the moment the towering point of the castle's roof came into view. Part of her wanted to turn back, for fear of what she might find, or what she might not. If Jack wasn't at the palace tonight, she thought she might go mad. She begged the gods to reward her bravery for continuing on, despite these worries, with his presence. Her judgement warned her from continuing to gallop wildly up to the palace gates, since she had no idea what her standing was with the imperial guards. On one hand, she might be allowed into the inner palace courtyards as Jack's guest, on another, they could attempt to arrest her. She had no question in her ability to beat back and escape a few dozen guards, but she didn't want to attack anyone if she didn't have to—surely if anyone were to be injured, it would upset Jack.

Rather than approach straightforwardly, she relied on her training as a shinobi to enter the palace secretly, as she had before. Ashi gave her horse a smack on the rump to urge it into a run without her, and sunk to the ground against the palace wall. She watched her steed hurdle past the guards, distracting them long enough for her to move unnoticed. She leapt up nimbly and gripped onto the overhanding roof of the outer wall, easily flipping herself up on top of it. Her feet were silent as she rushed along the middle of the roof, crouching against shadows whenever she heard footsteps below, and listening carefully to the fading conversation of guards as they tried to make sense of the unmanned horse on the other side of the wall. The moon seemed to orbit the castle's powerful presence as she made distance from one corner of the compound to another with agile speed.

As she approached the dairi on the north-east side of the grounds, where the emperor and nobles likely lay sleeping, she hesitated. The last time she was here, she had surveyed these courtyards for days, watching to see which building Jack favored sleeping in. This time she didn't have the luxury of waiting, and had to rely on a guess from what she already knew; that Jack didn't stay within the dairi at all. Even if now many of the buildings were nearing completion, she had to hope that he still stayed within the palace itself, and hadn't moved in the time since she had last been here.

Ashi bound onto the muné of a nearby structure's roof and followed it all the way down until she could jump to another building. She used the limbs of an overhanging tree to blend further into the darkened rooftop as a pair of guards patrolled across a small walkway below. She had passed what she believed were the personal residences within the dairi and was now above the empty meeting halls. Despite the low possibility of anyone being inside, she still tread carefully across the rooftops until she reached the castle's high stone foundation.

Claws out, she leaped from the edge the building that pressed closest to the tower, onto a large tree, and then rebounded to the wall of cemented boulders at the castle's base. It had been easy enough to scale the palace before, but being this close to Jack made her pulse quicken, and she felt like her excitement would make her careless. It took all of her ability to maintain a steady body while she jumped and flipped from the protruding decorations of the castle's pagodas. Each step and each grasp filled her with adrenaline from the inevitable conclusion she was racing toward.

She tried her best not to think about the horrors she might find inside his bedroom, or the excruciating disappointment she might face if he was not there—she could only let the need to see him urge her forward, until she landed skillfully on the red railing of a familiar balcony.

Jack laid in bed for hours, unable to find any rest despite the solitude within the castle's walls. Instead of calming him, the silence made him feel exceedingly lonely.

The past month had tested his spirit tirelessly, and though he had come to accept the faults of his father, the turmoil still left him feeling gutted. Mostly because, he imagined, he had no one to confide in—not with things so personal, anyway. No one in the palace would feel comfortable hearing his concerns about his father, he knew that. Jack wished sadly that he had taken advantage of his time with Ashi when he had had the chance; if anyone would speak to him frankly about his father, it was her.

But the mere thought of her only added another layer to his silent suffering. He still couldn't help wondering where she was, or what she was doing, and the inability to find those answers tore him up inside. Part of him felt like a fool for leaving her behind the way he did, thinking that perhaps she could have come to live with him at the palace, and they could start again, building a relationship that both felt comfortable with—but that was a selfish part of him too.

This Ashi was her own person, with no intimate ties to him, and she deserved to be free to go wherever she wanted to be. Her peace was all he could wish for after she vanished, and knowing that somewhere in the world, that some version of her was enjoying that peace and freedom, should be enough for him. Unfortunately, that acceptance did little to mend his heart, and he longed for her despite himself.

Rest was something his spirit seemed to have no time for, and often now he would go with little to no sleep. Tonight, Jack had the fortune of feeling a little drowsy, but it was still late into the evening before he managed to slip into a weak state of sleep.

Just moments after he closed his eyes, however, he felt a shift in the atmosphere of the room. There was a strange friction to the air, almost a state of anxiety, and he could see, even without opening his eyes, that the room had grown darker. He realized in shock that there was a presence in the room with him. His eyes flashed open in concern, and he quickly sat up on his elbows to look at the balcony door that he had left open. Inside its frame stood a slender figure, with their legs spread and shoulders set as though they were bracing themselves imposingly. Their form eclipsed the moon's light, and their eyes stared wildly into the room, wide enough that he could see the whites of their eyes glowing around all sides of their irises.

The figure was eerie enough fill him with some uneasiness, but it was a fear he knew well.

"…Ashi?" He breathed, unable to believe it himself. He sat up further, only to pause as the figure began to move toward him. The steps were calculated and steady, and as the shadow grew closer, he could see it truly was Ashi. The way she moved concerned him—he had seen robots move with the same cold instinct—and he wondered if she had come to try to assassinate him again. She reached his bedside, still staring at him unnervingly.

Then, slowly, she knelt and she reached a hand out, and cupped his face. Her eyes softened as she brushed her fingers across his skin, accepting finally that this was no dream, and that he was really here before her, and safe. All of the dread she had bottled up over the past few weeks extinguished at once, and she thought the relief might bring her to tears. She sat on the edge of his bed and set her other hand against his opposite cheek, caressing his skin with both hands now. Jack felt his face warm at the sudden contact, and felt confident enough to smile when he saw Ashi's lips perk into a small one.

"Ashi… what are you doing here?" Jack whispered with little force; the answer wasn't actually any concern to him, he was only happy to see her.

He set a hand over one of hers, and Ashi's stroking paused a moment. The feeling of his hand moving across her own sent too many sensations across her skin. It had been so long since she had been able to touch him, or have him touch her—even in her dreams. She moved out of her daze enough to look up at him, and the tenderness in his eyes finally brought tears to hers.

Her hands began to shake, and she gripped onto his jaw to steady herself while she blinked her tears away. Jack's eyebrows pulled up in confused worry, and he moved his hand to hold her shoulder comfortingly.

"What's wrong?" He asked quietly. Ashi shook her head gently; she had been taught to control her emotions, and certainly to never cry, but he made it so difficult. Instead of telling him about all of the useless worries and dreams that had haunted her over the past month, she moved to fill her curiosity. Something was strange between them, and as she thumbed across his cheek again, finally free from agonizing about his safety, that connection begged for answers once more. The dreams were too strange, and the visions she saw in waking hours only frightened her further. Supernatural things where not uncommon to her anymore, but Ashi had no explanation for the phenomena she was experiencing. She had been so certain that he was mistaken, speaking about 'losing her memories' and being from another time, but she couldn't be sure of anything anymore. Nothing in her life made sense any longer, and she decided then that it would be best to start again, from the beginning.

"Shinjiro," She looked up to him with an unusual glittering in her eyes. "Would you… tell me your story again? The story about… you and I?"

Jack blinked in surprise, but his expression quickly settled into a warm smile from her soft tone, and her use of phrasing. The last time he saw her, they had parted ways on such bitter circumstances—to have her smiling at him so fondly, and speaking about them that way, gave him butterflies. His arms ached to hold her, but he knew he had no right to do so, and settled for gripping her hand reassuringly when she placed it into his palm.

"Of course." He breathed through his smile, and moved to allow her more space on his bed.

AN: COULD IT BE… AFTER NEARLY A 3 MONTH HIATUS… IT IS!

As a few guests have joked in the reviews… 3 months have passed… and yet, the suffering continues…

Except it DOESN'T! HAHA! Our heroes are reunited after a month of prolonged torture. (Which, was the reason this took so long, I'd like to add. One can only write so much angst before they're like 'alright already! I get it they're sad!')

Despite the trudging through fear and sorrow-laden synonyms, I really enjoyed writing a chapter with 90% Ashi. She's as much of a protag as Jack, and after this point… well, it's going to be a lot easier to keep them on the same page. /kekeke

Not sure when the next chapter will be out with my work schedule and all, but I want to say soon! I'm super excited to get over this sad hump and onto the GOOD STUFF.

And as a note, I've been doing excessive research on feudal Japan, and was horrified to realize that the Kyoto palace didn't even have a castle. Castles were actually for the military elite (which, Jack's father is written more like a shogun, but that's another gripe for another time), so I had to make some adjustments to the actual Imperial Palace and the one in Jack's world. It doesn't matter too much, but if you'd like a visual, it's a mix of the Heian/Kyoto Imperial Palace, along with including a castle similar to Fushimi Castle (which is like… 6mi away from the palace lol).

In any case, the Imperial family didn't sleep in a single giant palace, but in several nice buildings in the palace's "diari"… you learn something new all the time. /shrug

ANYWAY I want to thank every for their patience and tormented reviews urging me to continue—I really appreciate it! :3 (I wish I could use heart emojis on ff...)

I can't leave this story off on a sad note [coughGenndycough], but until the next update, ciao! :D